Asking the right questions makes your job easier and your work more effective. Good questions help you make better decisions, manage your time, and build trust with your team. Poor questions, on the other hand, lead to confusion, delays, and missed details. So what makes a question “good”? How do you ask questions in a way that’s helpful and not annoying?
Characteristics of a Good Question
Good questions are clear, specific, relevant to the task or discussion, and invite a useful response. They respect people’s time and knowledge. You ask them with a goal in mind, like one of these:
- Understand context or details affecting your work
- Avoid misunderstandings
- Move projects forward
- Spot roadblocks early
- Stay aligned
- Build rapport with coworkers
Types of Good Questions
Knowing what type of question to ask in different situations helps you get better answers. Here are a few types followed by examples.
- Open-ended questions: Invite thoughtful responses. These are useful when you want to gather input or explore options. “What are some ways we could improve this process?”
- Clarifying questions: Help confirm your understanding and avoid assumptions. “When you say ‘onboarding,’ are you referring to new employees or new clients?”
- Follow-up questions: Show you’re paying attention and take the discussion deeper. “You mentioned a budget issue. Can you please say more about that?”
- Critical thinking questions: Challenge ideas constructively and move conversations forward or uncover gaps. “What would happen if we removed that step entirely?”
- Technical questions: Dig into tools, systems, or data. “What triggers that alert in the CRM, and can we adjust the threshold?”
General Best Practices
- Ask one question at a time. If you ask three things at once you’ll usually only get one answer.
- Be specific, not narrow. Narrow: “What’s the deal with this project?” Specific: “Can you update me on the status of the content handoff for this project?”
- Don’t interrupt. Restrain yourself from jumping in with a follow-up question until the speaker finishes their answer.
- Be an active listener. Listen to understand, not just to reply. Show you’re engaged by making eye contact, giving short verbal cues (e.g., “Got it,” “Makes sense”), and base your follow-up questions on what you actually heard.
Specific Best Practices
For casual conversation, like chatting with a coworker in the hallway or sending a Slack message, ask one question at a time:
- “Hey, I saw the metrics doc. Can you please walk me through what changed in Q2?”
- “What’s the best way to submit a travel request?”
At meetings stick to clear, short questions that move the discussion forward:
- “Can you please share how this decision impacts our timelines?”
- “What’s the biggest risk we haven’t talked about yet?”
After a presentation ask for deeper detail or next steps:
- “Thanks for the overview. Could you please say more about how you calculated ROI?”
- “If we want to get involved in that pilot, what’s the first step?”
During a negotiation good questions help uncover flexibility or constraints:
- “What leeway do we have in the timeline?”
- “If we adjust the scope, would that affect the price?”
In remote settings (Zoom, Teams, email) be direct and specific:
- “Can you please clarify what’s expected by Friday and what can wait?”
- “I’d appreciate a quick example of what a ‘successful submission’ looks like.”
Asking better questions isn’t about sounding smart. It’s about being curious, respectful, and intentional. Because that’s what builds trust, clarity, and momentum at any job, on any level, in any field.
What is your favorite good question? Please share in the comments.
Great article Mardi! Thank you for sharing! I appreciate how you laid the information out and the suggestions you made for where to apply the different types of questions you identified. Very helpful!
Thank you for the encouragement Rebecca! I hope you are well!